When to book airfare?

[lazarru]

Have booked Jul 5 cruise out of Anchorage and heading to Vancouver. Planning on doing an extra day on both ends most likely. Question is do I go ahead and book arifare now or will it drop any like after the holidays?

[vbmom87]

Have booked Jul 5 cruise out of Anchorage and heading to Vancouver. Planning on doing an extra day on both ends most likely. Question is do I go ahead and book arifare now or will it drop any like after the holidays?

 

It's a gamble. No one can answer this question. Go to a site like farecompare.com and check out the trend for the last year. Then book when you find a fair price. Also check different days for leaving and returning. Sometimes a day different can mean a big savings.

[CruisingGoddess]

It's a gamble. No one can answer this question. Go to a site like farecompare.com and check out the trend for the last year. Then book when you find a fair price. Also check different days for leaving and returning. Sometimes a day different can mean a big savings.

 

Flight times too! I saw a $150/person difference for flights on the same day but different times.

[Budget Queen]

I strongly suggest you consider adding as many days as possible for interior Alaska, well worth the time.

 

Book your air, when the price is doable for you. No way to predict any future. :)

[alpal1993]

Just My Experience: we booked RT FLL-SEA back in August for our cruise in June.We did so because we received a great fare.Delta has cancelled our flights and we are rescheduled on entirely different flights that are 3 times more money then what the new flights cost.We would not be going on our cruise if we had waited.

[vbmom87]

Just My Experience: we booked RT FLL-SEA back in August for our cruise in June.We did so because we received a great fare.Delta has cancelled our flights and we are rescheduled on entirely different flights that are 3 times more money then what the new flights cost.We would not be going on our cruise if we had waited.

 

As already said, you just don't know what will happen. Sometimes if seats aren't filling, prices will drop closer to the date of travel. I have seen last minute travel prices to be exhorbatant, and I have seen last minute prices to be great deals. There is just no way to predict. I studied farecompare, and when I saw a price that was decent based on the previous year, I went for it. I did see it go down a bit more, but not that much that I was disappointed. The cheapest prices I saw for a June 2008 flight were actually in March of 2008. There is no rhyme or reason.

[want2retire]

Last July we flew roundtrip Minneapolis to Seattle. Right now, for this July those same flights are $50 less per person. We booked now !!

[NCGAL1971]

Sounds like we may be on the same cruise, Lazarru. We are also cruising out of Whittier on July 5th on the Isalnd Princess and going to Vancouver.We booked our flight a few weeks ago b/c we were afraid the prices would go up. I had been studying the prices for a few months and the price we booked seem to be the lowest I had seen so I didn't want to take my chances the rates would go way up. I would suggest just studying the fares for a few weeks and then maybe you will see a pattern in the way they are going. We don't travel that often so I felt that was the best thing to do.

[scottbee]

Book now, but do it on AS/Alaska Air. If they lower the price, the will refund the difference as a flight voucher (but you have to ask).

[CruisingGoddess]

Have booked Jul 5 cruise out of Anchorage and heading to Vancouver. Planning on doing an extra day on both ends most likely. Question is do I go ahead and book arifare now or will it drop any like after the holidays?

 

lazarru - I'm also on the 7/5 Island Princess sailing. Come join our cruise meet thread:

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1101454

 

It's quiet and small but I think things will pick up once it gets closer to the cruise.

[strega7]

We are also booked on this cruise. I have been watching airfare and so far it hasn't moved at all for the last month or so...I am hoping alaska airlines will run a special when it gets a little closer. They have one now, but it is only good thru march.

 

Thanks for posting a link to the cruise meet, I have been an avid disboard member for years, but we are jumping ship and trying out princess, I am new to cruise critic and wasn't sure how to find the meets.

 

Marci

[CruisingGoddess]

We are also booked on this cruise. I have been watching airfare and so far it hasn't moved at all for the last month or so...I am hoping alaska airlines will run a special when it gets a little closer. They have one now, but it is only good thru march.

 

Thanks for posting a link to the cruise meet, I have been an avid disboard member for years, but we are jumping ship and trying out princess, I am new to cruise critic and wasn't sure how to find the meets.

 

Marci

 

Marci - Welcome to our cruise!! I only sailed Disney before until last month when we did Royal Caribbean and now we're doing our first Princess cruise in July as well. Disney costs a lot more and we wanted to try out other lines. Make sure you pop into our cruise meet thread!

[knorrisb07]

there really is no correct answer to OP's quesiton. For me, if I see a fare that is good enough, I will book it. DOn't want to spend too much time playing different options, end up spending many hours to save a few bucks.

[greatam]

We are also booked on this cruise. I have been watching airfare and so far it hasn't moved at all for the last month or so...I am hoping alaska airlines will run a special when it gets a little closer. They have one now, but it is only good thru march.

 

Marci

 

There is a very slim chance that airfare as a general rule will drop going to Alaska. There may be a short sale (and of course, you have to be aware of the sale on a specific airline/website, which means signing up for lots of travel sites), but generally the planes fly full all summer. No need to discount summer fares to Alaska.

 

The biggest sales are in October/November when Alaska residents receive their PDF checks. As a general rule, the closer you get to summer, the higher the fares go. Pure and simple supply and demand. I purchased 18 tickets to/from Alaska during the PDF sales. Got some screaming deals off the East Coast and MidWest. Not nearly as good from Arizona/the West Coast.

[lazarru]

Marci

Small world I'm also on disboards all the time, we've been to Disney 3 times with the kids, last year my wife said we've really got to do something else then just always going there. disboards is what pointed me to this site, lots of good info here not quite as complete as disboards but still the best I've seen for crusing

[vbmom87]

The biggest sales are in October/November when Alaska residents receive their PDF checks. As a general rule, the closer you get to summer, the higher the fares go. Pure and simple supply and demand. I purchased 18 tickets to/from Alaska during the PDF sales. Got some screaming deals off the East Coast and MidWest. Not nearly as good from Arizona/the West Coast.

 

Because of all the posts about the great deals to expect in October, I waited and watched for a deal for our June 2008 trip to Alaska. However, NEVER saw any deals from DTW to Alaska because of this sale. I know there were other deals out there to different cities, but at least in Oct. 2007, there were no deals to be found to DTW.

[melodyina]

Last July we flew roundtrip Minneapolis to Seattle. Right now, for this July those same flights are $50 less per person. We booked now !!

 

 

I agree, if you see an airfare price you can live with, grab it now. There are two other airlines you may also wish to check, as they run only in the summer and that is Sun Country out of MSP and Frontier out of Denver, they don't necessarily show up on the major booking sites.. BUT as a local who lives in Alaska, I can tell you seats go fast, and the number of planes up here don't increase by much. I've heard people who miss their flight home, having to wait 2 days for the first available flight with seats.